Pure Love
by Maraudercat
Summary: The story of Ted and Andromeda's engagement and wedding. Written for the Proposal Challenge and Wedding Challenge on HPFC. Rating for violence and mild language. One-shot.


**DISCLAIMER: If you recognise it, it belongs to JKR**

**Written as a combined effort for the Proposal Challenge and Wedding Challenge, both on HPFC since I got the same pairing for both.**

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><p>When he found her crying in the corner of the room his first thought was that Malfoy had done something to her. Her fiancé—how he hated the medieval social class structure that had forced that arrogant arse on her at the age of six—had been particularly horrid to her all year following her refusal to stand down as Head Girl. Ted hated that it was partly his fault, though his attempts to apologise had fallen on deaf ears. As far as Andi had been concerned it was the last straw from her family, especially since they had first petitioned Dumbledore to force Ted out of the position. She had told him in a poisonous whisper that she didn't care anymore what her family wanted her to do, that she was damned if she would become good, obedient Mrs Malfoy and spend her days arranging tea-parties and attending Ministry functions.<p>

Over the months of their final year, her rage had quietened somewhat. Ted didn't have to guess that the majority of Slytherin were doing everything in their power to make her miserable, to teach her her place. Her expletive-filled rants had degraded first to dirty looks and muttered comments, then avoided glances and exhausted sighs as she struggled with the weight of eight NEWTs and Head Girl and her family and housemates against her.

And now, holding her and feeling the racking sobs shake her body as she whispered the dreadful and wonderful secret she had been keeping for the last month, that their one night together when she had visited him at Christmas had had consequences. They had let their emotions carry them away that night, a blissful wonder spawned by the knowledge that this might be their only chance to be together in that way.

Ted's knees nearly gave way when he realised that she was talking about his son, their son that in six months would be a real human being in their arms. Except that in six months she would be back in the hands of her family, of her fiancé, who would not stand for her giving birth to the child of a mudblood.

While his Christian upbringing abhorred the idea of killing a child in the womb, he would accept it to spare her greater suffering, for there was no way the boy would be allowed to survive in her family, and no way to hide her until he was born. Unless…

Ted knew they still had fifteen minutes before the prefects would arrive, and knelt beside her, determined to use every second of their precious alone-time to convince her of the one option they had left.

"Andi, you know I love you, and I know you love me, though you won't say it in case some damnable relative is spying on you. But I can't live like this anymore, hiding in corners, passing a few words and a glance in class when no-one else is looking. I know you love your family, but do you love them more than our son? Will you give up his life and your freedom for their pretentious world of outdated values and stifling control?"

He felt her tremble beneath his arm as she reined in her sobs to ask, "Where can we go?"

"Run away," he replied, breathless with fear and excitement at the thought of what he was suggesting. "Run away with me, we'll live…somewhere, together. You and me and our boy, and any other children we feel like having. We're both good at charms, we'll put them up to stop your family from finding us, and we'll live however we like."

Drawing his wand, he frowned with concentration as he conjured a ring, the perfect ring, a single glittering stone wrapped in soft golden leaves, the band a twist of vines. Small and delicate compared to the monstrous family rock that Lucius had given her, which she threw in the bottom of her trunk during the school-year, but that didn't matter. He hoped it didn't matter. He hoped she didn't mind that he could never hope to afford anything close to the pretty ring he conjured, that would last only for a few hours before vanishing again.

When she threw her arms around his neck, dragged him in close and whispered "Yes!" over and over in his ear the feeling of terrified elation swelled until they were both laughing. He moved his hand gently down to caress her slightly swollen stomach and felt his knees start shaking again. It all sounded so easy, but nothing involving the Blacks was ever simple.

At the sound of approaching prefects, they stepped apart, charmed away the tears and assumed the roles of Head Boy and Head Girl, Ted gave a silent prayer that this was the start of something wonderful.

XXX

"I can't do it!"

Several people looked around at the resounding crash of the history book hitting the common room wall, and for a second Ted felt sheepish. Alban MacMillan, his best friend and soon to be best man simply glanced up from his notes to ask mildly, "Can't do what, the NEWT or the wedding? You'll have to be a bit more specific."

Ted winced and glanced around at the mention of the wedding, though most of the common room had gone back to their own diversions. Besides, none of Andi's family would be caught dead talking to a Hufflepuff so he didn't have to worry about word getting out that way. In fact, if everything went to plan, this time tomorrow they would be at the altar and married before her family could do anything about it. He hated having to miss the last end of year feast and hoped that Dumbledore would forgive the Head Boy and Girl for not being there, though he suspected the headmaster already had an idea of their plan.

Shaking his head, he retrieved his book and sat back down with a shaky sigh.

"Just nerves I guess," he murmured to Alban, receiving a knowing smile in return. Alban had described in detail the lengths he had gone to to calm down his brother Angus before his wedding last summer. In comparison Ted felt he was being rather restrained. After all he was about to sign a bit of paper saying he would spend the rest of his life with a woman whose family wanted to see his kind exterminated. Surely that was worth a few jitters.

XXX

Andi's face was drawn as they slipped out of the school gates with the first rays of sunlight, and Ted hoped she wasn't having second thoughts. For that matter, he hoped he wasn't having second thoughts.

Neither of them had been particularly surprised to find Professor Dumbledore waiting at the great oak doors to the castle, not only to wish them on their way, but to assure them that no relative or friend of Clan Black was waiting to corner them outside the gates. His assurances that their disappearance before the end-of-year feast was entirely understandable helped Ted loosen a knot of guilt about abandoning his post. One less thing to worry about on the day of his wedding.

The ceremony was planned for Ted's old church, a tiny chapel that would seem expansive for the six guests that they had planned. By marrying in the muggle world with few people in attendance, they felt relatively safe from any reprisals from Ted's new in-laws.

He caught her in a quick hug which she returned, almost collapsing into his arms, making him realise she was probably just nerves. She regained her composure quickly, as she always had been able to and kissed him on the cheek before disappearing with Alexandra Smethwyck and Erin MacMillan to prepare.

Alban clapped him on the shoulder and he realised he had been staring at the spot they had disapparated from. He grinned at his best friend, forcing down the butterflies in an attempt to convince his body to cooperate for the next few hours. They disapparated together, dragging their trunks along behind to his Mother's house. She met them at the door, hands coated in powdered sugar as she directed them through and minded them not to make a mess. As they passed the kitchen Ted could see his sister Lizzie helping pipe flowers onto the cake. She was showing her pregnancy a lot more than the last time he had seen her during the Easter break. He grinned and waved, and headed up the stairs to his room to clean up and change into the borrowed suit.

In the end it only took an hour of transfiguring, muttered swearing, and repeated trips up and down the stairs to show get his mother's critiques to make it fit. Rather than waste money on a suit, Ted had borrowed the one Lizzie's husband Brian had worn. Unfortunately Brian was four inches shorter than Ted, with broad shoulders and a significantly broader waist, and the sleeves fell well short of Ted's wrists, so magical modification was called for.

Eventually they had it looking reasonable and Ted felt the butterflies coming back as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His usually messy toffee brown hair with its lighter sun-streaks was combed neatly back from his face and trimmed just below his ears. The blue tie accented his eyes, though the thick coating of freckles and remnants of acne around his cheeks and chin made him feel like a boy playing dress-up still.

He glanced down as his mother fixed a sprig of forget-me-nots in his button-hole. All he knew about Andi's dress was that it was pale blue and made by Alex and Erin in the last month. Blue was Andi's best colour; white made her look pallid and ill, while in black her resemblance to her sister was greatly pronounced. Suddenly he couldn't wait to see her. All the nerves and worry seemed to drain away as he pictured her gliding down the tiny aisle in a cloud of blue, her smile lighting up his world as it had done for the past four years.

A wave of his wand sent the cake on ahead, and he proffered his arm to his mother, in her Sunday best. Together they started the short walk to the church where Ted's life was about to change forever.

XXX

It was better than anything Ted had imagined. Even the old priest presiding seemed to stumble on his words every time he looked at her, a fact she seemed to notice as she ducked her head to hide a smile every time he slipped. Her chocolate-brown hair tumbled over her shoulders in perfect waves that were matched by ripples of sky-blue silk down her bodice. A string of sapphires knotted in delicate silver lacework draped around her flawless neck and the smile she gave him as they exchanged rings more than repaid every curse, hex, and sneering comment from every Slytherin pureblood. It didn't matter that the bands were ordinary silver with the simple inscription of _pure love_ inside. It didn't matter that his mother's sobs echoed in the tiny chapel, or that the cake was mostly whole even after they had all had seconds. They were in love and there was nothing her family could ever do to stop them.

When they stepped out into the glorious sunshine arm in arm as Mr and Mrs Tonks, the last thing either of them was looking for was a deranged in-law bent on destruction. And in the end, the main thing Ted would remember when he thought of his wedding in the years to come was Bellatrix's victorious cackle as her cutting curse sliced open Andi's swollen stomach, blood soaking the perfect blue silk as she screamed, in pain and for their never to be born son.


End file.
